Finsished “Le Virus” number 2 this evening… Test flight tomorrow :)

I learn something every time I build a kite. This time I used a Mil spec grade gross grain on the trailing edge. The gross grain is 100% nylon and is very strong. It holds a crease long enough to feed it through my bias binder and creates a nice finish. I will make the dacron reinforcements at the standoff positions thicker, as I didn’t leave quite enough room for the standoff-to-sail connector. The kite has the frame from my green “Le Virus” and I will eventually frame it in skyshark P200’s and 5pt tapers.

Here is a photo of the completed kite…

After building my first “Le Virus”, and being so pleased with the result, I have started to turn the second sail into a kite.

I made a few changes from the last kite I built… Read the rest of this entry »

Wow!!!! That’s all I have to say. This is a fantastic kite! I am completely thrilled with the way it flys and how responsive it is.

I have to make a few tweaks to the upper spreader (mine is 1 cm too short) but other than that I didn’t adjust anything. The wind was about 10 mph (16 km/h) and smooth. I am not an accomplished trick flier but.. Flic-Flacs are super easy as with the fade, Axels and snap stalls are excellent. Corners were nice and the kite is rock solid in forward flight, no over steer in the spins…

Here are some shots..

–Bill

Tonight I framed the first of two Le Virus kites. I used .2300 Avia Carbon tube all the way around and .120 micro carbon for the stand-offs and APA fittings on the LE and Lower Spreaders. Read the rest of this entry »

I finally got a chance to get back to the “Le Virus” number 1 tonight. I was able to do the following today: Read the rest of this entry »

After making the green sail I wasn’t 100% happy with the color combo. I decided to sew another sail. This time using a similar layout to Christin’s original. Plus I was finally able to use mylar in a kite :). It’s been sitting on the shelf for about 6 months…

I also applied some of the things I realized from the mistakes I made on the first sail. This sail was a lot less trouble to get just right when laying it out on the template…

steadywinds,
Bill

I managed to cut, assemble and sew all the sail panels for my Le Virus. This was my first experience with a pieced sail and I learned a lot along the way. I tried to approach the drawing and cutting of the individual pieces as carefully as possible. I was rewarded with an easy assembly and symetric wings (that’s a releif)..
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There is a new online trick kite workshop starting on the GWTW forums. The kite is called “Le Virus” and is designed by Christian Derefat. I decided that I wanted to build another sport kite to improve upon the skills I learned while making “The Orange”. The web site for Le Virus is always growing and changes are made quickly based on the input of the users at the forum.
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